Tech writer and Third Culture Kid Annie Young breaks her engagement to Roger Perret when he ‘forbids’ her to take an assignment documenting a Paris dig supervised by her old lover, archeologist Luca Martinelli.
The dig, at the site of a thirteenth-century inn, has a tight deadline before new construction starts.
Amelie LaFolette, another dig volunteer, is found shot on the site. Because Luca had been her lover and is in the process of a divorce from his long-suffering wife Crystal, he is a prime suspect.
In the fourteenth century, Jacques Fournier, promised to the priesthood at birth, is a dedicated Cistercian brother/scholar. His uncle, abbot at the abbey in Fontfroide where Jacques is cloistered, sends Jacques to Paris to complete his studies and have a real-world experience. Once there he becomes infatuated with Madeleine, the daughter of the inn-keeper, where he is lodging. Her attractions test his faith.
Annie is caught up in the modern drama while helping to unravel the past.